Project Hail Mary Review
This is a very solo driven space adventure, something akin to The Martian or well being almost exactly like that in the vibe it gives off. The story follows Grace (Ryan Gosling) as he awakens on a spaceship with a fuzzy bit of memory as to what came prior. His crew are dead, he’s a tad groggy and there’s worry as something ominous is on the darkened edges of the surrounding space.
It’s an interesting adventure and one I’ll try to keep somewhat secretive and or spoiler free. An experience I wish I had going into this as the reveals are quite delightful. I was aware of the source material for awhile, at the same time seeing the entity and such would have been just a tad more impactful as a surprise.
Regardless, it’s a fun and engaging sci-fi story following an astronaut overcoming overwhelming odds in order to complete a mission that’s more important than himself. It’s a sort of almost tired tale at this point, but they have a good time with things and it’s very entertaining. There’s a lot of soul, humor and energy behind this adventure and it’s rewarding to see how the narrative progresses.
Seeing some science being used to determine situations that are happening and an almost Arrival like approach to solving some of the great puzzles. It’s got engaging moments of tension but is fairly light hearted throughout so it’s never too tough to handle. That aspect should make it more approachable for all audiences that want to experience the film.
This is a really striking picture, the imagery is eye catchint and it really sells being in space. The visual effects here are excellent and entirely believable the whole way through. Nothing really stuck out to me and that was impressive. There were some truly stunning visuals to behold here. I wish I wasn’t watching it on ScreenX however, first time doing that and I wasn’t a fan of the way the image was displayed through that technology.
Despite that I was impressed with the style and presentation throughout. I do wish they hadn’t held back on showing the impacts of Earth as that element would have been interesting to explore further. Showcasing the tale through the present and past was a neat style and worked well for how this flowed. I was also rather impressed with the performance by Ryan Gosling, being the central focus of almost the entire film would have been difficulty. Particularly with how the team-ups were handled and him driving the story.
The Conclusion
Project Hail Mary is a visual delight filled with charm, high emotional stakes and a very compelling premise. There’s a lot of enjoyment in seeing this astronaut of sorts deal with the problems that arise, connect with something out there in the reaches of space and work towards completing his mission.
It was also a rather interesting piece of the puzzle to have a loss of memory factor into the situation as we got to learn who he is, alongside himself learning that over the course of the narrative. I did find this to be quite similar to The Martian, which I enjoyed but I couldn’t help but keep thinking of that movie mixed with a bit of Arrival in this one.
It’s much easier to consume however since it’s happier in design for sure. Aesthetically this one looked excellent and I had a great time viewing it. It was deeper than I anticipated but also exactly what I imagined this film could be.
Project Hail Mary Review at Theater with ScreenX Viewing
Screening Provided by MGM
Rating Overall: 8.0
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